Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Trims Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC cut its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,235 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,590 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $22,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VRTX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $511.74 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $377.85 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $469.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $462.79. The stock has a market cap of $131.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -232.61, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,805,286.70. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.